During 2010, Sunshine Coast Council, in consultation with local groups and individuals, developed plans for Isaac Moore Park and the Kenilworth Mary River Reserve. These are now in process of realisation with both parks being useful amenities for locals and visitors. The most recent addition to the Mary River Reserve is a carved stone seat celebrating the river and its unique species.

Please note: Parking is available at the east end of Charles street, allowing pedestrian access to the River Reserve - there is no vehicular access.

KENILWORTH MARY RIVER RESERVE SEAT PROJECTThe Sunshine Coast Council funded the design of a park seat to celebrate the Mary River. Details of the project can be seen here (PDF file). The design competition was won by Wayne Markwort - see his website at www.waynemarkwortstone.com. A sketch of the design can be seen here.

This seat is located at the northern end of the Park, overlooking the river.

It is hoped that funding can be found for further projects to install more art works in the Park

At present Isaac Moore Park has a picnic shelter and electric barbecue but no toilet.

A proposal to install a toilet and make it a work of art has been accepted by the Sunshine Coast Council and $600,000 allocated.The design, carrying a prize of $10,000, is finished but a request for a further $200,000 to complete the Project was declined by Council.

All wildlife on the Mary is threatened by encroaching human activity. Of particular concern are those species whose habitat is restricted to this River. Of these, the Mary River Lungfish and the Mary River Turtle are critically endangered. The Mary River Turtle was identified as late as 1994 and is the only species in its genus, so loosing it would extinguish the whole genus. This makes it a particular concern of conservation bodies, not only in Australia but across the world. Preventing disturbance of nesting sites on the sandy banks of the River, at Kenilworth and elsewhere, is critical to the survival of this species.

Mary River Turtle research is currently being carried out, at Kenilworth and other locations, in collaboration by the Tairo and District Landcare Group and the University of Queensland, supervised by Marilyn Connell.
Data gathering involves catching and releasing turtles over a period of two years.

For more information about Mary River conservation issues please visit these websites:

From May 2015, remediation work was conducted along the banks of the Mary River at the River Reserve in Kenilworth.
Seqwater worked in partnership with Burnett Mary Regional Group, the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee and Sunshine Coast Council. These remediation works intended to stabilise the eroding bank, restore functionality to the Town well and consolidate the River Reserve at Kenilworth.

Works included contouring the river bank, timber piling, earthworks, seeding, matting and tree planting. By August 2015 Landcare had completed planting mondo grass and 5,500 trees on the lower bank area. By November 2016 the planting was well established and the Town water supply secured.

After the SC Council closed the subsidised Flexilink service, using taxis, on 1 August 2015 efforts to have Council provide a replacement service have been unsuccessful. In order to prove the viability of a minibus service to Nambour, the Kenilworth Chamber of Commerce ran a trial service with a hired minibus and conducted a survey of residents needs in relation to timetabling and routes.

The trial has demonstrated that a return journey to Nambour, with an average of 5.6 passengers and with an acceptable fare of $10, requires a subsidy of $29 per person per return journey. As this is considerably less than the subsidies being paid for any of the Council Flexilink services, it might be assumed that Council would agree to continue the service. A formal response to the trial report, however, has yet to be received.

The Kenilworth Medical Centre was closed at the end of October 2015. This was of concern to the community, especially as the recent withdrawal of any kind of public transport left residents who are unable to drive with no access to medical services short of evacuation by ambulance. In addition it was feared that loss of the surgery will make the Pharmacy unviable, leading to its closure.

A SC Council
project to build a new medical centre with Commonwealth Goverment funding did not go ahead when the submitted expression of interest for the grant was unsuccessful.

Fortunately the owner of the Medical Centre building succeeded in attracting Dr Siobhan MacDonald to Kenilworth and she opened her practise on Wednesday the 31 May. Surgery times are currently Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8.30am to 4.30pm. Contact the Surgery on 0472 3914.

CENTERLINK VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMME

Under Social Security Law, any job seeker aged 55 years or over in receipt of Newstart Allowance, Special Benefit (Nominated Visa Holders) or Parenting Payment can choose to undertake voluntary work with an approved organisation to meet their Activity Test or participation requirements. These job seekers can undertake suitable paid work or voluntary work of 30 hours per fortnight or a combination of both of these activities to meet their requirements.

Job seekers who are under 55 years of age may negotiate with their Job Services Australia provider to include voluntary work as their agreed participation activity. This would generally only be available to job seekers who are the principal carer of a dependent child under 16.

These Kenilworth Organisations are registered for Centrelink volunteers. Please contact them directly for further information. You will also need to complete -